California, 21 other states sue FCC over net neutrality repeal

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California Attorney General Xavier Becerra at a press conference in May 2017. On Jan. 16, 2018, he and 21 other state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against the FCC over its decision to repeal net neutrality rules. (Rich Pedroncelli/AP)

California and 21 other states, plus Silicon Valley-based Mozilla, have become the first parties to sue the FCC over its decision to repeal net neutrality rules.

In a partisan 3-2 vote in December, the Federal Communications Commission approved a plan to roll back regulations meant to ensure that the internet stays open and equally accessible to all.

At the time, net neutrality proponents warned that lawsuits were sure to follow the commission’s controversial decision, which millions of consumers, consumer advocates, tech companies and others weighed in about. They’re here.

“In repealing the net neutrality rules, the FCC ignored consumers’ strong support for a free and open internet,” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a news release Tuesday. He joined New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and 20 other state attorneys general in filing the petition to start the lawsuit, calling the FCC’s rollback of the rules “arbitrary” and “capricious.”

Mountain View-based Mozilla — maker of the Firefox browser and a longtime advocate of net neutrality — on Tuesday also filed a petition to sue.

“We believe the recent FCC decision violates both federal law as well as harms internet users and innovators,” said Denelle Dixon, Mozilla’s chief business and legal officer, in a blog post. “In fact, it really only benefits large Internet Service Providers.”

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The lawsuits come as other efforts to stop the rules’ repeal gain momentum. The Senate said Monday it is one vote shy of the 51 required to pass a legislative measure to overturn the FCC’s order. The 50 senators who have committed to vote for that measure include all 49 Democratic senators and one Republican, Susan Collins of Maine. A House companion bill, by Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pennsylvania, now has 82 co-sponsors, Doyle announced Tuesday. That list includes names familiar to Bay Area residents: Reps. Anna Eshoo, Ro Khanna, Barbara Lee, Zoe Lofgren, Jerry McNerney, Nancy Pelosi and Jackie Speier.

Meanwhile, some states, including California, have introduced measures to create their own net neutrality rules. In the Golden State, there are two measures, one from Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, and another from State President Pro Tem Kevin de León.

The lawsuits, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., come before the FCC’s order to repeal the net neutrality rules has been filed in the Federal Register. Petitioners are supposed to file 10 days after that, and acknowledge that they’re filing too early. However, they essentially said they’re covering their bases “due to the importance of this issue,” Mozilla’s Dixon wrote.

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FCC chairman Pai has long opposed net neutrality regulations and voted against them when he was an FCC commissioner in 2015. When Pai was appointed chairman by President Trump last year, he drafted a plan to get rid of the rules. He and the two other Republican members of the FCC favor what they call “light touch” regulations, which they say will encourage broadband investment. Critics say what Pai, the Republicans and ISPs want is no regulation at all.

FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, a Democrat who voted against repealing the rules, tweeted Tuesday that she supports “those fighting on behalf of consumers” and small businesses.